Duffy1949
New member
Re: looking for a new amp any opinions
Last night I checked out the new Marshall DSL5C.
I was surprised at how good it sounded. It has two channels, classic clean and ultra gain, plus a couple buttons to shape the sound further than the three band EQ. The Ultra Gain channel produces really nice overdrive and remarkable sustain at lower than bedroom volume levels. The amp gets it's overdrive from the preamp tubes and it sounds very good that way; volume at about #2 and gain at about #7 or 8. It has a decent Celestion ten inch speaker with a fairly big magnet and is semi-closed back.
I think it could be a very nice amp for the "stay at home guitar player". It gets plenty loud for five tube watts. We could have messed around with it for a lot longer and found even more great settings. It does not have the features and controls of the DSL40C that uses two EL34 power tubes, but it sounds very good for what it is. I know a guy that just bought one recently and he is using it as his main amp. He is a "stay at home guitar player". He has a nice DSL40C with an Eminence Texas Heat speaker he put in it, along with some other modded enhancements, that is currently "parked".
There is something to be said for a tube amp that you can crank up into serious overdrive with lots of gain and have it sounding fully saturated at no louder than polite conversational volume level. This could be perfect for someone living where there are other people in the household or close by that would otherwise be less than happy to have to be disturbed by a cranked amp sound. It is definitely one of the best five watt amps that I have heard. It has plenty of the essential features and controls necessary to get the most out of the little amp.
The Marshall "Slash" five watt tube combo is also a cool amp and has a twelve inch speaker. It is called the SL5 and a lot of people like it. It does not have an effects loop, however; where the DSL5C combo does have the effects loop.
I also checked out the new Peavey ValveKing II 20 and 50 watt tube combo amps. They are very cool as well with decent looking speakers and independent EQ sections for each channel, clean and overdrive, plus other tone shaping controls and reverb. The 50 watt one switches down to 12 and an even lower 2 watts. That is a cool feature. It even has USB direct output computer recording connectivity, and uses two 6L6 power tubes and three preamp tubes.
Interestingly, the 20 watt ValveKing II utilizes the same size, identical cabinet as the more powerful 50 watt one. It uses two EL84 power tubes and three preamp tubes and has the same features as the 50 watt one, including separate EP controls for the two channels. It has a power switch to take it down to 5 watts or a remarkably low 1 watt. I think the new design looks really cool too. They look almost exactly like the high end Peavey amp heads in their artistic cabinet design.
Peavey is known to make good, sturdy, dependable tube amps. One of these looks like it could be something to be proud of, while providing a lot of satisfying tones, at a very affordable price. It is only fifty dollars more (US) for the 50 watt version, than the 20 watt one.
Last night I checked out the new Marshall DSL5C.
I was surprised at how good it sounded. It has two channels, classic clean and ultra gain, plus a couple buttons to shape the sound further than the three band EQ. The Ultra Gain channel produces really nice overdrive and remarkable sustain at lower than bedroom volume levels. The amp gets it's overdrive from the preamp tubes and it sounds very good that way; volume at about #2 and gain at about #7 or 8. It has a decent Celestion ten inch speaker with a fairly big magnet and is semi-closed back.
I think it could be a very nice amp for the "stay at home guitar player". It gets plenty loud for five tube watts. We could have messed around with it for a lot longer and found even more great settings. It does not have the features and controls of the DSL40C that uses two EL34 power tubes, but it sounds very good for what it is. I know a guy that just bought one recently and he is using it as his main amp. He is a "stay at home guitar player". He has a nice DSL40C with an Eminence Texas Heat speaker he put in it, along with some other modded enhancements, that is currently "parked".
There is something to be said for a tube amp that you can crank up into serious overdrive with lots of gain and have it sounding fully saturated at no louder than polite conversational volume level. This could be perfect for someone living where there are other people in the household or close by that would otherwise be less than happy to have to be disturbed by a cranked amp sound. It is definitely one of the best five watt amps that I have heard. It has plenty of the essential features and controls necessary to get the most out of the little amp.
The Marshall "Slash" five watt tube combo is also a cool amp and has a twelve inch speaker. It is called the SL5 and a lot of people like it. It does not have an effects loop, however; where the DSL5C combo does have the effects loop.
I also checked out the new Peavey ValveKing II 20 and 50 watt tube combo amps. They are very cool as well with decent looking speakers and independent EQ sections for each channel, clean and overdrive, plus other tone shaping controls and reverb. The 50 watt one switches down to 12 and an even lower 2 watts. That is a cool feature. It even has USB direct output computer recording connectivity, and uses two 6L6 power tubes and three preamp tubes.
Interestingly, the 20 watt ValveKing II utilizes the same size, identical cabinet as the more powerful 50 watt one. It uses two EL84 power tubes and three preamp tubes and has the same features as the 50 watt one, including separate EP controls for the two channels. It has a power switch to take it down to 5 watts or a remarkably low 1 watt. I think the new design looks really cool too. They look almost exactly like the high end Peavey amp heads in their artistic cabinet design.
Peavey is known to make good, sturdy, dependable tube amps. One of these looks like it could be something to be proud of, while providing a lot of satisfying tones, at a very affordable price. It is only fifty dollars more (US) for the 50 watt version, than the 20 watt one.
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